Even small digital cameras today can capture and produce beautiful, detailed pictures. The cameras built into many high-end phones turn out crisp, colorful images while themselves only taking up a small part of even a relatively compact handset. For photographers who are looking to produce even more impressive results, though, stepping up in size can certainly be worthwhile. A larger camera lens and image sensing unit, after all, can capture even more of the light that produces pictures, enabling an even higher level of quality.

That fact leads many dedicated amateur photographers to look into digital single-lens reflex, or DSLR, cameras, and some do like what they discover. While a high quality DSLR will normally be able to produce pictures that no smartphone could match, however, it will inevitably do so at a significant cost. Beyond the financial investment required to buy a DSLR, many find that the sheer size and weight of most such devices ends up negatively impacting the experience of owning one. Especially for those used to the way an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy can be pulled quickly from a pocket to snap an opportune shot, a DSLR can feel like a real inconvenience.

As a great read at one website points out, though, there is a middle ground between full-fledged DSLR units and smartphone cameras that many will find appealing. A major reason for why the average DSLR is so large and heavy is that it contains a mirror which reflects light coming in through its aperture up to an optical viewfinder. While that is a feature that has been around since the very first single-lens reflex cameras were developed, there is a more modern alternative that can make more sense.

By doing away with this bulky, heavy part, mirrorless digital cameras are able to shrink down to a more manageable size and weight. At the same time, they still deliver all or most of the image quality of the average DSLR, putting them in a class clearly beyond what smartphone cameras can manage. For the many who might find a DSLR to be simply too bulky to carry around on a regular basis, a more compact camera like this can therefore make a good deal of sense.